Clusterfrag

"Nothing of the sort," Daniel remarks to Doc. "Just influence over global politics. Control of the last bastion of sanity in a world gone mad. I have my passions, though I don't expect the likes of you to understand."

"I'd love to stay and reveal the full scope of my plans for the future, but I prefer to hedge my bets. Goodbye, drekstains."

A reinforced shutter slides across the window, blocking any view of the reanimated Whitelock.

Through the drone's eyes, Doc watches Daniel raise a fist and slam it down, shattering the touchscreen before turning stiffly and ambling down the hallway.

Max cries out,

"Drek! There must be a door control in here somewhere! Nobody makes rooms other than prison cells which you can't open from inside!"

The elf searches.

Doc looks around the room for a control panel, or even an emergency override for the door.

"I'm going to keep an eye on the corpse," he tells the others.
He commands the drone to follow behind Bell at a distance.

Doc locates a a small control panel by the exit. The panel is flashing:

Max sees Doc messing with the panel and runs to the safe. Whipping out his lockpick set (( Applicable? )), the elf sets to the task of trying to get at the canister.

((Tyros rolls magical threats/parazoology to understand the magical nature of the ritual magic controlling Whitelock. There must be a way to sever the link astrally. While Whitelock was still visible, Tyros would have perceived him astrally and rolled ascensing as well.))

Tyros takes out his rebreather mask and puts it on, just in case Whitelock did something poisonous to the air. "<I can try to vaporize the door with my magic. Don't think it will cause any sparks, but it is a risk. >"

((will powerball create sparks if it is just pure energy?))

(( It's my understanding that powerball is just kinetic energy, though if the door folded in on itself quickly enough, there is the chance that it could generate sparks. I'd say you're fine unless you glitch the spell test. Your call. ))

A muffled explosion can be heard from somewhere else on the station.

(( Since the door is a free moving object within the framework of the space station, couldn't Tyros theoretically levitate it with enough force to rip it free of its restraints? Just throwing out a possible alternative. ))

Max curses under his breath as he fumbles with the mag lock.

Max produces his tool-kit and sets to work deconstructing the mag-lock casing.

Rawhide, who is standing behind Max with his arms crossed, is now wearing a huge, drek-eating grin.

"I feel funny, Max."

Max nods,

"I'll bet you are. The levels of oxygen in here are getting you high. Feels good, man."

The elf keeps working.

Doc sets to work on the panel. Not having a means of direct connection, he runs a scan program to detect the wireless signal coming from the control panel. He gets the pocket hacker fired up and ready.

Doc utilizes his commlink's hacking software to locate the door control algorithm and quickly decodes it.

The aperture opens and vents the room into the rest of the station. With the door now open, the sounds of yelling and banging are readily recognizable.

The door open, Max pipes up,

"Come over here and give me a hand with this fraggin' safe, amigo!"

Checking in to the drone's visual sensors, Doc can see Daniel shuffling down the hallway towards engineering, having just passed a sign reading: 'Emergency Pod.'

Doc runs over to the safe where Max is working.

"If you don't mind, I can take a look at that," he says.

"Also, Bell is making his way toward engineering, but I saw where the escape pods are."

Max stands up in great haste,

"Frag! Take care of this! I'm gonna get after him!"

The nimble elf takes off running at full tilt.

Running in artificial gravity is a strange sensation. A bit disoriented, but fueled by the mounting anxiety that their only ride home is about to be commandeered, the elf reaches the entrance to engineering. A dead Mitsuhama employee lies in a pool of his own blood, several hand-tools protruding from his back. At the far end of the engineering deck is a row of hatches, bordered by alternating black and yellow caution decals.

Daniel is stooping to enter the only remaining escape craft.

Tyros eyes Doc and the safe which appears to contain the cannister. "Meet you at the escape pod Doc. I'm gonna go babysit Max because I think he might need magical help with the likes of Whitelock."

Tyros, still invisible, runs after Max, his longer strides easily keeping pace with the elf.

(( GM continuity edit. ))

Tyros hoofs it towards the engineering deck, unable to move with the same dexterity as the spry elf.

At the sight of Whitelock's husk moving to use their only means of escape, Max pushes his muscles in ways he never knew possible. He can't fire on the puppeted brit for fear of his contaminated blood destroying the pod, so Max's only option is to choke him out. Max is fine with that. Reaching Whitelock, the elf tackles him to the ground.

Daniel struggles weakly against the elf.

"If Daniel dies, these --hurk-- nanites will... decompose his body and move on to the shuttle."

Max smirks into the dead eyes of the form beneath him and says,

"Who said anything about killing this body?"

Max picks Daniel up half throws, half pushes him out the door of the shuttle. The body tumbles stiffly to the floor and crashes into a cart of various supplies, scattering its contents with a symphony of chatters and tinkers as they bounce off every surface. In a flash, Max is on top of Daniel with his rope in his hands. Binding the Brit's hands low and tight behind his back, Max ties his ankles to his wrists before tying the line all the way around his torso and securing him to a support strut near the floor. Feeling safe with his tie job, Max throws in a couple of punches to Whitelock's gut-- assuming that Bell won't actually be able to feel them land, but hoping he can nonetheless. Taking Daniel's head in his hands, Max looks deep into the dull eyes before him and says gravely,

"Take a good look at me, motherfragger. Take a good long look, because one day this face will be the last thing you ever see."

Dropping Whitelock's head back down to the cold, unforgiving metal floor with a dull *CLANG*, Max stands in front of the entrance to the escape pod with his shotgun drawn, waiting anxiously to defend it from all comers.

Tyros arrives on scene, huffing and puffing just as Max stands from the incapacitated Whitelock.

Darkness envelops the science deck, punctuated by the flashing of security lighting. A feminine voice--far too calm to be anything but automated--says over the PA, "Depressurization detected. Hull integrity compromised. Please proceed to the emergency evacuation area."

((What? A troll moves at 35 meters/turn when running while an elf moves at 25 meters/turn. Tyros can easily keep pace with Max. And for continuity's sake, you gotta let Tyros get his actions in even if my post gets there 30 seconds late...I can't always keep up with your advancing the scene that fast.))

Tyros sighs, having missed the action again. He glances at the restrained Whitelock, but his hatred for the Britt faded with the man's consciousness. Now Tyros simply feels disgusted by the magical nanites controlling his body, and perhaps, although he would never admit it, a bit of pitty.

<"How you doing Doc? We need to move! There is only one escape pod left.>" Moving to stand in front of the door, Tyros aims to ensure no one else tries to steal the team's way off the station.

Doc pries the casing off of the safe's mag-lock components. Inside is a fairly rudimentary mag-lock circuit. He begins crossing wires in an attempt to compromise the device.
Rawhide stares into space as the PA announcement echoes from unseen speakers.

"Drek! Hurry it up, Doc. I don't want to die so far from solid ground."

A pair of security guards burst through the entrance to the engineering deck and exchange glances briefly before taking cover.

Max, having been standing at the ready, fires on guard #2.

Max's shotgun slug embeds itself in one of the crates that the security guards are crouching behind.

His first shot gone awry, Max takes cover himself behind a nearby pillar.

Max comms out,

<Rawhide! We've got some geeks who have taken cover between us and you! Want to get the drop on them from behind?"

<I was getting tired of watching Doc play geek over here. On my way!>

Rawhide slaps Doc on the back.

"Think you'll be alright by your lonesome, Doc?"

Relief washes over Max's face,

<That's a relief! Double time it, Grumpy!>